


key item

by orphan_account



Category: Wandersong (Video Game)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Not A Fix-It, Post-Canon, Wandersong Spoilers, or: the result of really really wanting to know what happened to audrey, redemption arc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-04 21:49:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16797706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: the last time the bard had seen audrey was when she ended the world. weeks later, they find her again under dire circumstances.now, without a sword, nor a prophecy to fulfill, the hero finds herself having to reevaluate her place in a renewed world.





	key item

**Author's Note:**

> brain: so audrey but she’s corrupted on account of using a divine sword post-game and also redemption arc  
> me: cool beans let’s do it  
>   
> and that’s my origin story. seriously though, i adored audrey in lategame and wanted to do _something_ with not only her but how she impacted miriam and the bard so here this is  
>   
> other small note: here i wrote the bard’s name as **bell;** not only because it’s a rather nice name, but because a bell is what they ring to call the world to sing the earthsong. but other than that, no aspect of their characterization/anything is changed!
> 
> EDIT: i'm a fool. and completely forgot that WS only allows four characters for your name so i'll jus (chops off the s so it's bell now) do that

The last time Bell had seen Audrey was when she ended the world.

To tell the truth, it wasn’t a question of if she were coming. It was when. It wasn’t something they liked to know. Eya, they enjoyed merely thinking about it even less — but as much as they wanted to doubt their fear… She had killed five out of the seven Overseers. Several right in front of them. And it wasn’t that Bell couldn’t comprehend bad; they knew it was out there. They knew that it happened. But there was a  _ difference. _

Bad things were out there. Bad things happened. But in the bustling, albeit friendly city of Chismet didn’t know true evil. They grew up with a loving mother. They traveled from friendly city to town to village to the tight-knit Langtree. And they’ve met their fair share of the occasional jerk, but,  _ but, _

that just didn’t compare to  _ murder. _

Audrey words it like a quest. Because, yeah, it was. But she uses words like “defeat” when talking about her quest to kill the Overseers, like they’re just a roadblock for her; she treats they and Miriam like they’re something lesser than her; and later, struck Miriam down with lightning. She went from someone who didn’t sit well with Bell to someone that filled them with something bitter. Something awful.

As their travels progressed, they try to reason with that awful anger, that ugly jealousy that keeps scratching at their heart. But never for too long; their spirals never lead down a good road, and in their logic, didn’t really  _ help _ anyone so what’s the point. So Bell simply leaves that train of thought, and ideally, wouldn’t touch it, look at it, or do so much as go  _ near _ it when possible.

Exhaustion, fears, and worry took its toll though, and sanded down the time they took to avoid thinking on it. 

...So naturally, being trapped with the root cause of those feelings via cave in was, well, not  _ great. _ But they tried. They really did. To understand her, to forgive her — but instead, Bell nearly left Audrey in those caves with only time and the empty space her sword used to take up, and when they had asked her, made her  _ promise _ to spare the sixth of the Overseers, she shrugged off their trust with a simple,

“I lied.”

If you had asked them now, Bell would say they couldn’t remember much of the conversation. It was this  _ thing, _ mushed together, yet stood out in their memory at what felt like the worst times — as if the “light” catches it just right, in the worst way possible. But they remember how the heat of the lava below pricked at their skin, the glint of Audrey’s sword that they’ve learned to dread, and they remember —

_ “You could have chosen different!” _

shaking 

_ “We could have healed the Overseer! And fixed everything…” _

glaring 

_ “And stopped the world from ending!” _

and shouting 

_ “But you ruined it! You ruined  _ **_everything…!”_ **

_ —  _ for all the things they couldn’t change, and all the power that Audrey had  _ to _ change things, but only brought hurt as red-hot as the clothes she donned.

* * *

The kind-of-almost-end of the world was good for a few things. Well, many things, really. The skies were no longer a stretch of blue melting to black, with new stars, constellations, maybe even more to illuminate them. There was new life breathed into the flora of the world, from the palms in Tatango to the recovering forests of the two kingdoms. 

But what Bell loved most was the oneness. As the harmony of the world singing the Earthsong had convinced Eya, it had, in some way, brought the people in the world closer together. When they had said their goodbyes before settling back into Langtree, it had occurred to them; things weren’t perfect (which was fine, they preferred it that way anyway) but they were making  _ progress. _ The world was recovering, improving. The revelation had brought them, simply put, happiness. They had smiled through their exhaustion as they traveled, not too wide nor too blinding; but instead, softer, relieved.

The same goes for Langtree. Two weeks, give or take, after what had happened, the sleepy little town made good progress for itself. They stroll, sometimes dance, along the outskirts with the local birds as they sing improvised tunes for them. The melodies are chip-chopped together, a bit of an idle habit with how much they’ve learned, sang with a wide, proud smile as a sparrow perches itself on their hand.

_ “With a smile and a song, all the world seems to awaken anew,”  _ they croon to the little bird.  _ “Rejoicing with you, as the song is su—” _

And suddenly the air and the earth shake with a sharp  _ BOOM! _ characteristic of thunder, knocking Bell off their feet to gracelessly faceplant on the ground with a cry. They barely make out the faint fluttering of a sparrow’s wings as they pick themselves up, their heart racing. 

“What—?” they murmur through a shallow breath, turning to look for the source of the sound. It’s a decision ill-timed, as there’s another roaring strike, this time with a flash in the sky. The strength in their knees weaken as they take a step backward, and their fears are confirmed when they tilt their heads up to see not a cloud in the sky — only jagged lines of light, stemming from the forest a close ways from Langtree.

A cloudless lightning storm. They didn’t want to admit it (again, they didn’t even want to think about it), but the only person capable of it was, well…

“...Audrey…”

They take off running before their fear can catch them. Navigating the outskirts of Langtree doesn’t come with much trouble; while their familiarity with the terrain lessens with the footfall and the local birds have long fled the scene, they make do with the plants that dot the grounds of the Overseer’s castle. But as they progress, they pick up on… Worrying things. 

The sharp scent of smoke. Flashes of orange and small flames that lick then burn the flora. Fleeing wildlife.

But Bell pushes down that bubbling fear, and keeps running.

They later find Audrey surrounded by charred earth, thin wisps of smoke curling off the grass in a flash of gold, then orange, then black.

The run through the forest had been difficult. They didn’t take any gear — they didn’t have any for it anyways — only covering their mouth with a sleeved arm, as they sprinted; though, Bell was no athlete, much less an  _ Audrey, _ and that, combined with the smoke that stung their eyes and the panic that threatened to seize them… It was difficult.

It brings a small measure of relief to them when they saw a clearing, then soil leading up to a cliff. Up until the moment that Bell actually saw Audrey for the first time in weeks.

It was messed up in a way; how her form is miles far from human and instead bears more resemblance to the Overseers that she had slain. And, it’s true, that compared to the Moon Queen and the Sun King, she still had her  _ ‘shape’ _ to say it, but at the same time, was hardly human at the moment. 

The Hero now possessed a taller frame composed of what looked to be clouds, or some form of gas, painted in a sinister hue. She was made up from shades of storm clouds, sometimes briefly illuminated by lambent bundles of light in different colors; not unlike how those of a tempest lit up by well, lightning (it had been months since Bell and Miriam flew through a storm, and they’re definitely not planning on doing so again any time soon). Whatever sound could leave her by choice was like some sort of anti-noise; similar to how Bell chip-chopped the melodies they learned, but at the same time, hardly the same. It was more comparable to if you had rapidly switched radio channels at a madman’s pace, through the filter of a beast’s mouth.

And that was to say nothing about the electricity that wreathed her body like some kind of aura, and the rolling of the thunder at her core that brought back that fear again. 

“Audrey...?!” Bell shouts over the storm, their knuckles white, tight by their sides. “What happened to you...? Why —?  _ How — how are you doing this?” _

The Hero glowers down at them, her glare taking the form of two lights, peering underneath what  _ should _ be her hair. And rather than reply, she growls as a crimson lightning bolt begins to take shape in her hand, and the terror in Bell’ heart threatens to bubble over once again.

_ She’s charging it?  _ they think in a rush, trying to both power through and quell their fear. They repeat the question, once, twice, until a realization hits them. “Like her sword!” Bell thinks aloud, and flicks their gaze to the charging magic. It bore a familiar hue, and if the same goes for her form, then—

The bolt finishes charging. Audrey hurls her attack at the Bard —

— only to have it be shattered, by a loud, long held note.

They were right. This  _ is _ how it was with the King of Hearts.

“I figured it out, Audrey!” Bell says with a confident grin, managing to meet her gaze. “I can save you! I know I can. Just…” 

Their voice wavers as they catch another lightning bolt charging in her hand, as electricity crackles through the air.

But nevertheless, they persist. 

“Just hold on for a little longer, okay? I know you can!” 

And with that, even with shaking knees, and a heavy heart, they lift their chin.

The song begins sweetly, reminiscent of their hometown’s lullaby. Clear enough to resound through the storm, but with dulcet tones, and soothing words. It forms some sort of protection for Bell; where Audrey would attack, the electricity — to their delight and relief both — would simply wash over them like oil to water. 

They raise their voice, and the melody ascends to be more grounded, albeit pleading, perhaps even sorrowful. A gust kicks up around Bell’, not unlike those of the caves in Delphi, as they plead the Hero, singing through her wails.  _ Please, come back. Please, rest. _

Audrey, to this, responds with what Bell can only describe as a scared kind of anger; as she wails, wails, and wails, the lightning that surrounds her striking all that unfortunate to be in her way with a vengeance.

But the song changes again. It was neither soothing nor grounded now, sang to a new scale. Dissonant against Audrey’s wails, Bell sings with their anger, their admiration, their all-ambivalent heart. The melody rises, rises, and rises, fighting the storm itself, until it begins to reach Audrey herself. It’s strange; as Bell sings with more, Audrey’s corrupted, amalgamated form simply becomes  _ less, _ until she is eventually back to her original size, surrounded by a pale, sickly light.

When both the light and the storm die down, what Bell is left with is the Hero. She’s sprawled on the ground, clothing and everything singed, and when they approach her unconscious form, can make out lightning scars trailing up her neck. And no sword.

Part of them’s just a bit relieved for that.

“Audrey!” they call as they kneel by her hand. Thank Eya, they feel a pulse; not a strong one, but, it’s something. But they can see that she has wounds just about all over, and from what, it’s anyone’s guess. Bell tries a gentle shake of her shoulders, brows knit in concern. “Audrey, are you okay..?”

No response. Their shoulders fall. 

“Heh, sorry. I guess it’s obvious that you aren’t… I don’t even know what happened to you.” Even without her truly ‘present’, Bell gives a small smile as they begin to pull Audrey to carry her. “But I’ll get you back home — well, my home! back at Langtree — and help you feel better! Then we can talk about—”

_ “I could save the world right now.” _

Their grip falters, if just for a second, and their smile falls at the memory. They’re not even sure at what or whom for. Audrey is hefted onto their back a second later.

“...You know,” Bell begins as they start to walk, head slightly turned to look back at her. “You’re a little harder to carry than Miriam. I once had to do that, a little while back. It was after you…”  _ Struck her down, for something she didn’t even know was wrong. _ “You hurt her.” They fall silent, and look up and ahead.

It would be a long walk back to Langtree.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, catch me on my [twitter](https://twitter.com/thiefexp)! if you liked this work be sure to leave a kudos and/or comment!  
> 


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